France imposes curfew, passes bill to extend emergency

Paris, Nov 21: France imposed a night-time curfew in Sens, L'Yonne in north-central France after weapons were seized in the town, the media reported.

The curfew began at 10.00 p.m. (local time) on Friday and will end at 6.00 a.m. on Monday, Xinhua cited a statement from the prefecture as saying.

The decision to ban night traffic came after police raided houses in Sens and seized "unauthorised weapons and fake documents", the report said.

Several people were arrested during the operation, it added.

French President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency after November 13 attacks in Paris that left at least 129 people dead and injured over 352 others.

French senate on Friday voted to extend the state of emergency to three months, the senate said on its website.

The bill was passed by the French National Assembly on Thursday. It gained 336 votes in favour and 12 abstentions.

Since the declaration of the state of emergency, 793 searches have been conducted, 174 weapons were seized and 164 "dangerous" people were put under house arrest, French Prime minister Manuel Valls told the senators on Saturday.